Background
College and university students have always drunk alcohol for various reasons. Unfortunately, students are unable to control the amount of drinks they consume per sitting. It has led to an increase in deaths and sexual assaults.
Sources and Methods
In order to study the college binge drinking problem carefully and think of an effective solution, articles from online databases and a book were used.
Report Organization
The report explains as follows:
- Introduction
- Why students drink
- The majority number of drinkers, which are fraternities and sororities
- Deaths
- Sexual assaults
- Alcohol awareness program
- Conclusion
For several decades, binge alcoholic drinking on college and university campuses have been a huge problem. Binge drinking is “the consumption of five or more drinks at one sitting by males or four or more drinks at one sitting by females” (Nuwer, 1999, pp. XXIII-XXIV). Students, including those under the drinking age, are unable to control the amount of drinks per sitting and it causes them to become intoxicated. When intoxicated, their actions are very unacceptable because it has caused a major increase in deaths and sexual assaults. In addition, their academic success has decreased. Overall, these students are irresponsible drinkers because they were not taught of how to be a responsible and moderate drinker. Franklin B. Krohn agrees by stating, “Moderate drinking is the most realistic goal for colleges [and universities] wanting to combat the problem of alcohol abuse” (2003). Instead of trying to ban alcohol on college and university campuses, enforcing alcohol awareness programs for all students will help decrease the number of deaths and sexual assaults.
Why Do Students Drink?
There are various reasons to why students have chosen to drink, but mainly to “relieve the stress of school and their personal lives” (Scrivo, 2001). In addition, half of the students drink to get drunk (Angelo, 2004). A survey has proven that approximately forty-nine percent or 3.8 million of the country’s full-time four-year college students binge drink every month (College Drinking, 2007). Forty percent of those who drink have difficulty with their academic performance (Pierce, 2002). They have “trouble steeping or studying” (Angelo, 2004). Altogether, “alcohol is associated with missed classes and poor performance on tests and projects. The number of alcoholic drinks consumed per week is clearly related to lower GPAs [grade point averages]” (Krohn, 2003).
Alcohol is not good for the human body because after a certain amount of consumption, it causes damages. Sometimes too much alcohol may cause heart and brain damage, liver disease, and much more. On the other hand, to students, alcohol might be consumed in a way to socialize with friends. Krohn agrees by stating, “Many people do not view alcohol as a drug, largely because its uses for religious and social purposes” (2003).
Fraternities and Sororities
Studies have shown that school fraternities and sororities have “the highest incident of heavy drinking” (Arenson, 1997) compared to other students who are somewhat and not involved in these groups. Fraternities and sororities are Greek organizations that “are often viewed as responsible students in positions of authority” (Arenson, 1997). In about two weeks, approximately seventy-four percent of leaders have participated in binge drinking with an average of fourteen a week (Arenson, 1997). Because of that, fraternities and sororities are known as drinking clubs (Scrivo, 2001). In addition, fifty-seven percent of these leaders have missed class (Arenson, 1997). Altogether, instead of showing the role of leadership to friends and classmates at the colleges and universities, fraternities and sororities are setting bad examples.
Deaths and Alcohol
Drinking alcohol is a major factor for college deaths. Approximately one-thousand-four-hundred students die every year from alcohol and eighty percent of that is resulted from traffic accidents (Angelo, 2004). In other words, “one out of every four student deaths is related to alcohol use . . . [and] between 33 percent and 59 percent of drinking college students drive while intoxicated at least once a year” (Drunk and stupid, 1997). Students drive to a party to drink and have to drive back to school drunk to get ready for class the next day. In even worst cases, “other students die from alcohol poisoning or fatal on-campus accidents such as falls out of windows” (Angelo, 2004). The majority of college deaths is related to students who binge drink.
Sexual Assaults and Alcohol
The majority or three-quarters of sexual assaults on school campuses are the result of students who binge drink (High-risk, 2004). Students who drink have the high risk of being sexually assaulted and that also goes for those who do not drink either. Moreover, if colleges and universities campuses have binge drinkers, sexual assaults are bound to happen to anyone. Jean Marie Angelo agrees by stating:
More than 500,000 college students are assaulted each year by someone who has been drinking. . . . An additional 70,000 college students report being the victims of alcohol-related sexual assaults, sometimes on campus and sometimes off. In fact, alcohol use figures into most rapes and sexual violence incidents. . . . More than 400,000 students report having unprotected sex after drinking, thus [is] increasing their chances for unplanned pregnancies and acquiring HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. (2004)
In addition, studies have concluded that:
Women need to be educated about drinking as a cause of rape in order to help avoid the violent crime . . . men need education about what constitutes rape, and women should be better informed about strategies to avoid risky situations . . . Women get raped while under the influence of alcohol than under the influence of any other . . . drug (High-risk, 2004).
Sexual assaults on college and university campuses are highly related to students who binge drink. In 2001, “97,000 students were victims of alcohol-related rape or sexual assaults . . . [and] 696,000 students were assaulted by a student who had been binge drinking” (T., 2007). These numbers most likely came from students who confessed or reported that they were assaulted. If all the students did confess or report that they were assaulted, the number would be much higher. Altogether, sexual assaults not only affects those who binge drink, but to other students in the school as well.
Opposing View
Some schools have tried to ban alcohol from their campuses hoping that it would become a dry campus, which means campuses that do not tolerate alcohol. Banning alcohol from schools was never a success because it “just encourages out-of-control, off campus parties” (Scrivo, 2001).
In addition, some schools have said that the alcohol awareness program is not effective as to ban alcohol. According to Stanton Peele,
The continuing high rate of bingeing on campuses is particularly disturbing given the tremendous efforts devoted to campus alcohol education programs [also known as alcohol awareness program]. . . . American education programs seemingly fail to convey the complexities of alcohol’s effects. Consider the reactions to the revelation that binge drinking continues unabated on college campuses. . . . More abstinence and more bingeing. (2002)
Alcohol Awareness Program
Altogether, because students were not well educated about being a responsible alcohol drinker, within the past few decades there has been a huge increase in the total number of deaths and sexual assaults. Banning alcohol from the schools is not a solution because students will just go off campus and drink someplace else, and the number of deaths and sexual assaults might increase even more. Moderate drinking “is a more realistic goal for college [and university] students . . . [and it has] shown to have health, academic, and behavior advantages compared to excessive [or binge] drinking” (Krohn, 2003).
The purpose of having a mandatory and semester-long alcohol awareness program at every college and university is that it will teach students the causes and effects of drinking alcohol, such health problems like:
Lack of fine motor skills, reaction speed, and visual perception . . . causes one to tire faster because it weakens the heart’s pumping force . . . body cannot burn more fuel efficient fats and proteins . . . cirrhosis of the liver, inflammation of the pancreas, damage to the brain and heart, and increased risks for some cancers” (Krohn, 2003).
Students simply do not know or are unaware of the causes and effects of drinking too much alcohol. Once students have the knowledge, students will know how to better control the amount of drinks per sitting and to get out of a difficult situation.
In addition to teaching students the causes and effects of drinking, the program will allow students to express any alcohol-related issues they are having, such as peer pressure and give suggestions or ways of how to deal with it. Altogether, the alcohol awareness program will help decrease the number of deaths and sexual assaults on every campus nationwide.
Conclusion
For most students, drinking alcohol is apart of the college and university life. Unfortunately, students drink too much and this has been a problem for several decades because the increase in college deaths and sexual assaults are directly linked to alcohol drinking. There has been no workable solution. In addition, binge drinking effects academic performance. Students who binge drink perform poorly in school. Students do not have the knowledge or are unaware of the causes and effects of binge drinking. Banning alcohol from campuses will not do any good because students will go and drink off campus. By having an alcohol awareness program on every college and university campus, students will be taught the causes and effects of binge drinking and how to deal with any alcohol-related social pressures. The program’s purpose is to help decrease the high number of deaths and sexual assaults, and definitely bring a better educational environment nationwide.
REFERENCES
Angelo, J. M. (2004, June). The wasted years: college presidents say that changing the culture of drinking on campus has been their gravest challenge. Whether they are up to the task is another question altogether, University Business. Retrieved March 22, 2007, from InfoTrac OneFile database (A117681913).
Arenson, K. W. (1997, December 15). Fraternity leaders appear to be the first in line for alcohol, The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2007, from Opposing Viewpoints database (A150258893).
College drinking, drug use grow more extreme. (2007, March 19). About: Alcoholism & Substance Abuse. Retrieved April 24, 2007, from http://alcoholism.about.com/od/college/
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Drunk and stupid, The Washington Post. (1996, October 5). Retrieved May 1, 2007, from ProQuest database (21919269).
High-risk drinking and sexual assault go hand-in-hand, researchers find. (2004, February). Campus Crime, 13. Retrieved March 22, 2007, from InfoTrac OneFile database (A120700847).
Krohn, F. B. (2003). Colleges should promote moderate drinking. In H. Harvey Alcohol Abuse. Greenhaven Press. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Opposing Viewpoints database (EJ3010276209).
Nuwer, H. (1999). Wrongs of passage: fraternities, sororities, hazing, and binge drinking. Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Peele, S. (2002). Teen alcohol education programs exaggerate the dangers of drinking. In J. D. Torr Teens and Alcohol. Greenhaven Press. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from Opposing Viewpoints database (EJ3010215209).
Pierce, S. R. (2002). Binge drinking on college campuses is a serious problem. In J. D. Torr, Teens and Alcohol. Greenhaven Press. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Opposing Viewpoints database (EJ3010215207).
Scrivo, K. L. (2001). How colleges have responded to teenage drinking. In L. K. Egendorf, Teen Alcoholism. Greenhaven Press. Retrieved March 29, 2007, from Opposing Viewpoints database (EJ3010084221).
